 Hi. I hope you are tuning in. My name is Sam Morielli. I use the name pronouns. I am currently sitting on the land of the Lenape people in what is now Brooklyn, New York. And I'm so excited to welcome you all to this space today. For the first panel of the Prelude Festival, I am still slightly reeling from the wonderful and amazing Google Doc performance by Nyle Harris and Trevor Bazile. Truly amazing. I also got to take part in May and TO's meditation space this morning. And I'm looking forward to closing out this first day of our festival, I guess second day of our festival with May's meditation space later tonight. But for now, super excited for this first panel called Revolutionary Partnerships. This panel will be about this conversation about how theater and performance institutions are forging partnerships beyond their own institutions with local and grassroots organizations in an effort to help build more equitable, just, and beautiful communities. The participants will discuss their ongoing collaborations, share what they have learned, and dream about what's coming next. I'm really looking forward to this. I can't wait to learn from them. And I'm going to invite them actually on camera to introduce themselves. So first, we have a group from New York Theatre Workshop. So if you all want to come on, I'll dip out, but enjoy the conversation. Hi, everyone. Thank you for tuning in. My name is Alex and I'm the director of education at New York Theatre Workshop currently coming to you from the land of Lenape and Madison, New Jersey, actually. And here with my colleague. Yeah, go ahead, guys. Hi, everyone. I'm so excited to be here. My name is Zafi Dimutropoulou Del Angel. I use she, her, hers as my pronouns. I'm the artistic director of People's Theatre Project, and I'm currently tuning in from the land of Lenape and Wabinger. My name is Gavin Trinidad. Gavin rhymes with Raven. He, him, his, and I'm the Community Engagement Associate at New York Theatre Workshop, and I'm currently Zooming from the East Village, Lower East Side, also home of the Monsignor Lenape. Right. Are we inviting the folks from Jack now to introduce themselves as well? I think so. Awesome. So like, I guess, our friends, we'll get started then they'll come when they talk about themselves. Yeah. Great. So I'll get started just to frame a little. Oh, here we are. Yeah. Yeah. Hi, Sam. Okay. Hi. My name is Sam Johnson. I am currently on the Indigenous land of Lenape people. I am from New York. I am with We Keep Us Safe, and I have a great partnership with Jack Theatre. And Jordana is around here somewhere. But yeah, so that's our partnership with Jack Theatre and We Keep Us Safe. And hi, I'm Jordana De La Cruz. I am on Lenape and Canarsie land here in Brooklyn, New York. And I am the co-director of Jack in Brooklyn. And I am very happy to be here. Hey, I think we're starting with you, Jack, right folks? And we see you talking about your partnership. Yeah. Wonderful. So I'll kick it off with, so Jack for anyone who doesn't know is a performance space meets civic space in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn on the border of Bed-Stuy. And Jack has been around since 2012. And Jack is all about experimental arts and about connecting with the community. And so with connection with the community, that is really an equal leg for us to all the performing arts we do in music, dance, theater and such. And so then when the pandemic hit, and we all went to quarantine about March 11th, we had to cancel the rest of our season, as all of you did as well. And so here we are with our space because Jack, we have an actual space, 18 Putnam Avenue. And we have the space that we can't be in, and that we can't have all these amazing artists that we had programmed in as well. And we can't have discussions in person that we want to have about what we're going through and what our industry is going through and what we personally as artists are going through. And just as humans, that's like an experience, despite if you're an art business or otherwise. And we just really wanted to be of service to the community, because that's such a big part of our organization. And so with that in mind, we started brainstorming thinking, could we be a testing site, could we be a storage site for food? And trying to figure out the ins and outs of permits. And then finally, we actually just made up, we put a call out asking, you know, what, what do people need? What can we do with this space that is safe, and will benefit everyone and connect everyone? And our board member, Brittany Williams, actually said, Hey, I'm with this incredible organization, We Keep Us Safe. And I'm going to let Sam talk a bit about We Keep Us Safe. So yeah, so We Keep Us Safe started around I think 2016-17 around Hurricane Irma. Actually, Brittany Williams was down in Florida orchestrating trying to get the shelters open because they had shelter in South Florida. They had closed all of these forms of housing. And so individuals were stranded and they didn't have resources. And so at that time, she mobilized us, a group of friends, we've organized in many different facets together, but we organized to get food and supplies to family members in Florida and Miami and actually Brittany actually orchestrated for 13 shelters to be reopened by the state to ensure that people had actual shelter and safety. From that point on, we started doing a lot more work around NBC, which is the Brooklyn detention center, the federal detention center that's in transit park. And around that time, there was freezing temperatures and individuals were housed behind the wall, were actually given no heat, they were given no type of food for the quality food for what that may be for the state to provide. But their quality of life was being diminished. And so we mobilized again, and actually stayed at that site for about a month on the site where NBC was to ensure that the lights, the heat, and actually the quality of life was improved. I'm ensuring that also we were mandating that the Warren quay was actually being dismissed. We wanted them to be removed because of the conditions. And if we know about mass incarceration and how that actually doesn't do anything for our communities, we made sure that that was a vocal statement that individuals who have had that much power actually don't do anything for our people and that people who are on the ground continuously do keep us safe. And so we continue to do that type of work and then obviously a COVID hit. And when I was already doing work in Fort Green, I live in NYCHA, Fort Green housing developments in Ingersoll. And so from proceeding there, I saw that my community needed something. It wasn't anything to me to go and knock on my neighbor's door and ask if they needed resources. From that point on, Brittany reached out to me and said, hey, Jack, which I'm very familiar with through other work that we've done in the past, to community service work and also community center work. They reached out, they said we have a space available. We would love to continue to do this type of work that you already started if we keep us safe. And from that point on, we started in Fort Green and then we expanded all the way to Staten Island. So we would end up doing all the boroughs, providing food, obviously PPE, any type of resources that our people needed. We went out there and got it. We were funded by the people. And so we keep us safe. Origin is people focused grassroots and also making sure that any resources that we can do, we hold our principles very true, that we don't involve this state in any way. We don't want to harm our folk in any extension of how operating could be. So we've actually discontinued some relationships because we realized that the whole point of our agendas is that if we are not doing the practices of keeping folks safe, we don't want to put them in the hands of harm. And so that is where we're continuously looking and remodeling and structuring how safety looks like. What does safety mean? And what does that mean to love political education and also resources that are necessary for our people from the land and giving it to the people? So we keep us safe as origin is love, right? But we also want the people to take it over. And so we don't own this. We know that it is something that our people tell us what we need. We mobilize, we educate, and we let them rock out with the love and care that they need. So yeah, that's where we are. And so yeah, then we keep us safe was in at Jack and there was just dozens of volunteers in hundreds of families were receiving mutual aid and food and Sam was directing the entire production of it all. And so Jack had people there multiple times a week and the space was used and we I'm proud to say we put it all together with Sam in two weeks. So it was the type of thing that we talked about it. And then two weeks later, everyone was in the space. So it wasn't something that took forever or that we were missing opportunities to serve the community. And we learned a lot from We Keep Us Safe and we're still partnered. And in the future, I hope that we can still do things like this when we have productions in the evening when we are back with artists in the space. Yeah, let me kick it over to our next speakers and then you'll hear more from us in the conversation at the end. Thank you so much for that. That was very inspiring. Thank you for sharing this journey. Well, I can I can start and speak a little about People's Theater Project and what we do and how we started this partnership with New York Theater Workshop that we're really excited about. So People's Theater Project is an immigrant led anti racist organization that does ensemble based theater work with immigrant and BIPOC communities to to really strengthen the movement of social justice. So we are rooted in Upper Manhattan. Our home is Washington Heights and Inwood. We believe that all people are artists in everyone in their own different ways. And we believe a lot in the power that young people hold. So one of the many programs that we have, it's the PTP Academy for Leadership Theater and Activism. So this is a rigorous multi year program that is devoted to the holistic development of immigrant youth. Where kids come there, they audition to the participating group auditions, they joined the PTP program. And what it really is is a brave space for young people to be their truest selves and to grow into the leaders that they are. So they come once a week when that was safe. We have our studio located in Inwood. They would come once a week during after school hours and really participate in fun creative activities that would ignite those conversations around the community, around all of the topics that young people are ready to talk about and want to talk about and want to put out into the world in very creative ways. COVID hit last spring and we had to, as Jordana you mentioned, we had to just like, you know, pause everything. And the first thing that we did before moving straight into a panic mode, which of course it happened, it's very natural, it was very human, but we decided to take a pause for a second and a breath and kind of like find some stillness to first make some phone calls and like call our families of our participants and ask what is it that you need right now? Like where are you at before moving into the virtual space? That took us around like two weeks maybe. We were able to connect with founders of ours and the community, people from the community that help us a lot. So we were able to set up the academy virtually again app after two weeks. And then we realized that a lot of young people were bored staying in. A lot of young people were needing more. They were really yearning that like human connection. So we started a very, like it just happened one Friday where we said, let's have a fancy Friday. We called it a fancy Friday and let's log in at 5 p.m. on a zoom link and we're not going to have class. We're just going to hang out. What do you all want to do? And this became a thing. The fancy Fridays became a thing where like all of the kids wanted to really participate in because it was out of curriculum and structured class. And it was we were cooking all together. Like we would rotate and say, okay, I know how to make his aliyas. Like let's all be on camera and make his aliyah like together. I know let's watch a movie together like with share screen. Let's have a party like you know all of the fun things. And we decided that now that we're still in the virtual world after some classes that we had at the park when the weather was still permitting it, now we want to keep those fancy Fridays because these are really important for our community. And beyond the work, the structural work, we want to actually have a true honest human relationship with our students. And this is where I'm passing it on to my colleagues here at your theater workshop so we can then connect the dots. Thank you, staff. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So very quickly. So so so in essence, at a New York Theater workshop, we are interested in our educational and community engagement programming to interested in centering the voices and leadership of BIPOC youth and immigrant youth. And we had known about people's theater project and the amazing work that they're doing uptown and been following their work for a number of years and entering in conversation this past year before the pandemic started about ways in which we could work together to serve the community that they're serving in meaningful and impactful ways through, you know, the creation of arts programming, arts education programming for the youth in the area. Because this is sort of a central part of our goal. And like in every partnership, we we've met over coffee and tried to figure out and dream what it could be. But one of the things that we do at the workshop that is central to our education programming is is the notion of career exploration and career development is supporting and cultivating theater artists at every step of their careers, right? Whether they want to be professional or not, right? It's also the same belief that PTP has that we're all artists. We all have a right to access theater as a human right and as a form of expression and as a form of activating oneself and the community and using theater as not only as a form of telling stories, but also for social justice, right, as a tool for learning, activating planning and strategizing as well. So we shared that sort of common philosophy. And we have access in our community to many, many, many artists. And one of the things that we do at the workshop, as I was saying, is a series of career workshops for young people so that they begin to have access and an understanding of potential careers in the theater. And what makes it very special for us is that we involve the entire institution, right? So it's not just the education department and or teaching artists or artists that are that are providing services through our education programming, but the entire institution. We actually call upon everybody in the institution from our marketing folks to our production management folks, costumes, producing, casting our artistic folk. And we work with every member of our staff that sort of volunteers to do this workshops to prepare, to engage and meet the young people. And so, Gabyn can talk a little bit more about these workshops that we are doing and this partnership that is actually a nascent partnership. We've been scheming for a year and now we're putting it together online. And so we're really excited about that. As Alex and Zahe were saying, the way that we approach our activism and our engagement is through the importance of education. And I can speak for myself as a family who lived under dictatorships. It was very important for me that education is such a key in a moment for a young person to realize the potential of who they can become and what does it mean to be civically engaged and socially conscious at their age in their community. And we knew what we had was the arts and how personally for me as a young ground immigrant, from a young ground immigrant family to find myself and find the language or languages to describe where I am now. And so what I love about the work that we're doing, it goes hand in hand with both our missions. And as Alex was saying, it's an investment from the entire institution. It's not siloed in one department working with only a few people. It's truly a buy-in from every single person in both institutions and knowing that we're here for these young people who have trusted and given up so much of themselves to learn and to cultivate and is truly trying to create a community and space for them to flourish. And so yeah. One last thing that I wanted to say because I think I forgot to do that. So this year, Fancy Fridays will be those workshops led by New York Interruption. So each Friday of the month, the students of PTP Academy will be taking a different masterclass and a different topic. So we're starting this November with costume design, right? Yeah. Costume design. And then after the completion of it, they'll get a certificate that they also have attended a master class on costume design and development and production and all of the aspects of the theatrical journey. That's a little bit about us. We open it up for conversation and thoughts about partnerships and how we put them together. Yeah. One of the things that I sort of wanted to convey in terms of our partnership is that one of the things that that was really important to us is that, as I was saying before, that our sort of mission and our goals aligned, right? And that there was a clear philosophy that we sort of both had in terms of the kinds of work that we that we wanted to do in the ways in which we wanted to serve young people, right? From our perspective at New York Interruption workshop, we didn't want to be an imposition. We wanted to be of service to the community and how can we share our community? How can we share our resources? How can we share our connections in the theater world for folks to have access, for folks to have information and resources and, you know, meet artists that are doing the work? You know, I think one of the things that was really, really important that we sort of learned is really important for PTP is the opportunity to create opportunity for the young people uptown and kids to have access and sort of envision a possibility, you know, the possibility of a career in the theater, the career in the arts and some of it is lack of access to professional, you know, producing companies. And, you know, at the workshop, the emphasis has always been on cultivating a community, first and foremost, entering into conversation and then providing access for folks to develop, learn and hone their craft, right? And so, you know, we were interested in a partnership but we didn't want to impose. We didn't want to impose that that would be sort of the goal on the other end but it's so wonderful that aligns so much with what People's Theater Project wants to do, which is provide access to youth that otherwise without the program wouldn't have access to some spaces around the city. What are some of the things you have learned in your partnership, folks at Jack and we see? I'd say that I think just something that I feel like I already know but it just constant communication is very important but that's something I feel like we knew beforehand but this was just a different way of communicating and just in terms of Sam I know could talk about how many people that she was coordinating through all of this and Sam was our point person so we were talking to Sam but Sam I feel like was talking to dozens and dozens of people and so how to figure out how to connect and support her when she had all of that weight and so something that we tried to do was to take over the buildings around us so anyone in the buildings around us who wanted or needed support or anything tackling that and figuring out who could support that process so that Sam had less to focus on across the street and could keep going in words outwards. That was something that I felt like was successful and it was just an exciting part of the growth because that didn't come to later having the our actual neighbors across the street from us that we see all the time at Jack receiving and meeting for each other late. I would say for me the one thing that I've always wanted was to really hone in healing and love and also the practice of art and what that means in my perspective is just that one thing we can do is just like Jordan I was saying reach across the street and like show that sometimes institutions may be very isolated but Jack has done a great amazing job in making sure that everybody in the neighborhood knew about us that it was really transparent it was an open door policy and it was really just community building more so than I've seen before and the thing that I've also learned was that having true partnerships that truly believe in the community and want to really do right by the community consistently was also a driving factor and yeah I was talking to many many people but I never felt alone and I never felt as if it was an isolated project that I was in a silo by myself and it was something that I just had to meet my deadlines or make the appearance of the space better it was all it was already a warm space and I think that goes to the intentionality of an artist space to create that before you get into it and you just kind of blossom and so that was one thing that I learned that is I would hope that other art institutions would be able to mimic creating a safe space creating a warm space but also an intentional space that even when you don't have a show or premiere that people can still come in and either give ideas and be inspired by that and or just wanting to figure out where their place is and be able to lean in support so that was one a great thing that I I learned but I also am consistently inspired by our partnership Sam something that I really that like that hooked on to me that what you just said that resonates with me is you know to you have to create a such a beautiful partnership an intricate partnership of understanding and trust to provide consistently to the and that's I think that's the difficulty that I the challenges I've learned within this position what is it what is it what is the relationship of a the of a theater institution to its community and to our local organized and local activist organizations and how can we create a relationship in which it's reciprocal but is sustainable consistent can be sustainable and actively support um yeah I think especially at this time what does it mean especially at COVID just specifically for a New York theater workshop and ptp though we've been in conversation you know we we wanted to start doing something at the time COVID hit like we we had to call is like oh we have to change plans we're not going to do that workshop and and and and I'm bringing it up because we are at the moment because we are in the you know the infancy of our collaboration we are actively building that relationship that you're done and you have and your institutions have and it's so beautiful to see where you know how it's grown and we hope we we get you know we're building that like I aspire to be in that collaboration yeah yeah and I was going to say even at this early stage of our partnership we've already been inspired by by um how ptp has responded to the moment you know when when the COVID crisis um with with their academy for for for these young folk you know they were they were really um uh committed to put in it you know taking the academy online right and committing to these young people um and you know they have a a staff person that is a youth advocate right who who works with the youth reminding them engage in them making sure that their families are okay making sure that that they're accessing their resources and and sort of engaging them in that consistency that was inspiring right um and it's inspiring and it and it to me was inspiring that they were trying to figure out how we take this intricate curriculum online that it inspired us at the workshop to you know uh uh to create a program that was online um and so um we are doing um a program at the workshop called the youth artistic instigators that is inspired by the way we are um sort of doing our season this year which is online virtually um and perhaps at some point socially distanced but we sort of um went to a community of artists um and in essence um asked them send them a provocation and and asked them to dream um work for the moment right um and that we would you know listen to their ideas and and produce their ideas of theatrical work that um that was begin to the moment both in terms of the pandemic and the moment around sort of racial justice right and so that was inspiring for us right could we provoke students young people to create work about the moment yes could we do it online wonderful um and uh and then now that we're in the virtual space uh could we open it not just to New York City youth but youth across the country um and so our program has you know young people from all around the country that are creating together around notions of transformation social change and social justice and in a way you know we're inspired by so many things but inspired by ptp's decision to say well we're going to take we're going to move on with our academy we're going to provide the service and we're going to do theater we're going to do theater without our ensemble of young people online right it's going to be challenging and difficult but we're going to we're going to do it um so we're also in the midst of exploring that and and doing it yeah so many things resonate with like with that we're saying I wanted to kind of like go back to what Jordana you were saying about intentionality that that's that's like the um one of the key things that makes a partnership be strong and therefore sustainable and um I I've also been very inspired and I know that that was part of why ptp was also very interested um collaborate in collaborating with new theory work should be on the fact that we know our missions are very aligned and our core values as well but it's amazing to me how like we are all of us respectively rooted in our communities and community is very important and at the same time these partnership partnerships now are kind of like crossing borders if that makes sense like geographically we're partnering with people from different communities that have those similar you know missions and similar kind of scope of work so we we sometimes make fun with our students we say when we were having the conversations about actually being in new york theater spaces uh in new york theater works of space we would be like uptown travels downtown and we're gonna get to see you know how theater happens downtown we do it like this and then we would invite them maybe to lead a workshop a workshop in our studio if that's possible so downtown folks can see how we do it uptown so I I'm very interested in that and how we can you know stay true to our community but intentionally also sometimes like collaborate with people from other communities across for us is now in york city but as you were saying alex you are now doing it across the country so that's something that it's very inspiring for me yeah that's definitely something that has happened that I've you know also witnessed through this pandemic is that so many uh arts leaders and organizations are all connecting that I hadn't been connected with before and so people I've known about um like you all have been excited about but it's different than you know talking to you multiple times a week on zoom because we can do that now and bouncing ideas off each other and really creating this larger web and community with all our many communities that are serving specific neighborhoods and it definitely feels maybe it's just because we're all going through the same thing together but I feel far more connected to different theater organizations and different activist organizations than I did a year ago yeah I hope that you know I hope that we you know I know we're all zoomed out you know in a way that you know we spend our days on zoom and and then do multiple programming and and and and sometimes it's really really difficult and challenging and physically demanding and intense um but one of the the the wonderful things as yours are you're mentioning is this this connection um with folks right and I think um you know I'm already sort of seeing a future you know hopefully without COVID um but we're connecting like this across borders and barriers and regions it's gonna hopefully going to stay so it's no longer um that it would no longer be okay to say well you know you cannot participate in our programming because you are miles away that there is a way in which we can collaborate in many different ways and many different mediums um uh uh yeah so that's exciting and I think there's a challenge you know moving forward for organizations theater organizations person organizations to to maintain some of those connections that they have created virtually um and how do you how do then you transition those to in-person programming as well but also maintain you know um some of the accessibility um qualities of online program and virtual programming Sam there was something sorry I just really love what you said earlier there was also another thing that I wanted to bring which is connection to what has been what has been said about I mean specifically in this time the way that we've all come together and we're together during the pandemic and during the uprisings and um creating discourse and safety you spoke specifically about the possibility of space for community when you go into an art-centric slash socially conscious space when they come together and I think we've all worked in person during during this pandemic as well physically and I also wonder how everyone feels about creating that community and continuing this partnership and creating that space of safety and expression online like how do we continue to serve these communities online it's just it's just a it's something that just popped but it's a challenge that I've been facing how can I I know what I could do in person and that there's a certain feeling there's a certain type of energy I get and then how do I bring and ensure that safety and sense of community online to those who can access it and need to access it via that way yeah well for me I I'm now just getting comfortable with people being in my home literally you know they are literally on my sofa and seeing my cats run around so it has a sense of breaking the fourth wall right and understanding that in order for me to keep any any phrase if I say safety I really mean what is the level of comfortability that you and I can exchange right what is the level that we can have a conversation that we can easily turn off our camera we can shut down at any particular time we have that still the same autonomy if we're in person but definitely what does that look like as far as what you're mentioning gaben when you're just kind of doing 17 different things and you want to maintain that sense of sincerity to the exchange and so I think for the zoomed out folk which all of us are we still have that comfortability of knowing that we are in a space that you have to invite me to right and there's there's always that invitation and the discourse of knowing that invitation is always open whether we choose to or not choose to and there's also patience I think we've gained a lot of patience through COVID with ourselves first and then with others and so the thing that I'm learning when it comes down to maintaining a form of safety is really what does my own comfortability I'm more aware of myself I'm more aware of the space in which I occupy um a lot of zoom calls are now being more recognizing in the land in which we're in and we're being more conscious about how we occupy space within the space that we thought was our own and when we're always inviting folk in we have that moment of saying okay well I have nine people right now in my living room and they're in the space and I'm able to take time and patience with myself about exchanging what is comfortable for me and it's not that I'm I'm going to be frozen but it's just I have I have more patience and I think for the exchange with young people um that's what we've always wanted from them and we've always wanted the exchange of just being relaxed and just doing a breathing exercise and then you know maybe doing some fun you know warm-up games and so this is kind of the opportunity where family can be engaged and that the moms and the dads and the partners of their lives and the people and engage with them can see the the vibrance they can see the energy they can because they have never seen it before they've never been able to go into that classroom and see them do a zoom game or see them talk about colors or some like local exercises and see the joy that it brings um and so I think that there's really very many ways in which we maybe impacting young people or people in our community but we're also impacting those who view them as well um and so that's the way that I take this away because I know when I was when we're doing mutual aid I was only kind of thinking about meeting the need right meeting the the the where we're not at but then I realized that people were watching me consistently when I'm in my house when I'm not in my house and going to the corner store and that's the way that I built a lot more community relationships because people are like you're just hustling what are you doing how are you doing this you know and obviously Jordana I have 17 pallets of potatoes I don't know how I'm gonna do it but you know and then I'll get um you know community members from across the street saying I see you do this where where can I fit in and so and they're also opening their homes to me I've been in 17 million homes and I'm like I'm just I love it um where we didn't have that before so COVID has taught us how to be patient with ourselves and I think with the youth they're also being patient with you as you work through this with them and you're not judging where they are in their home and the fourth wall is being broken consistently so that's my perspective to it yeah that has been so important for us to to not judge right uh you know uh the young people in their homes and how their access and their space you know they're so conditioned in our educational system right and told to behave in particular ways but what of course what happens when you are when your home is your school when your home is your theater space your creative space all of those sort of things combined and then you're inviting folks into your home um uh we have to undo those expectations um you know not that we always had them but but it's hard for them to undo those expectations as well and so we have to create a space where they feel safe being themselves right um with others um yeah that resonates absolutely yeah what are you looking forward to in your own partnerships oh Safi you had something to say yeah I jumped the gun no no no that's I just wanted to add to share the moment because at PTP when we start the classes we always start with the devising of the brave space agreements how do we move from like safe also to brave space also because because it's theater and and for all of the other reasons um and I now that we're having this conversation I did notice that a big part of what goes under our contract of brave space agreements when it's being devised online you can see the difference you can see how the young people are putting different um sentences they're forming different sentences when we're doing this activity of the brave space agreement in comparison with the one we're doing it in person in our studio so now what you're describing so nicely Sam is brave right now means also literally I want to be brave enough to nothing that people will judge me you know you see my kitchen behind and we just had like lunch all together and you see our family mess and we are like yeah that's how all of our kitchens look right now so don't worry we're not looking at this we're you know here focusing on this vocal activity so it's what you what you said so nicely like the young people know that and I just see it's beautiful to also see that in action in the activities how now even bravery is being redefined as a concept in their minds when we're talking about it Alex you had a question sorry to you're a mute we haven't learned yeah that's just you know um uh uh yeah so the question was you know we have 50 more minutes or so time together and and and you know it's just the question is like what are you looking forward to in your partnership folks moving forward in terms of the the work that you're dreaming to do together that's easy for us or at the very beginning so everything is a dream um but uh yeah I mean I'll say because yeah we're very much not at the beginning um but I would say that when so I'm looking farther down the line but when we are back in the space with artists I'm really looking forward to figuring out how we keep up partnerships and how we keep up this partnership with Sam and how we um bring in someone that Sam's really excited about working with because at the end of the day we do have this space and we do have our performances in the evening so if people aren't in tech we have the space and we'd rather be using it with the community and serving those around us than renting it and so I'm really excited for kind of like tackling that challenge um I think it'll be a really I think it's going to bring about some really beautiful things and partnerships um and it's going to be it's going to be new I'm excited about that as well I mean I come from a background of working in community centers um and being able to have um some access to space and so I no longer work in that space anymore and so being able to be with Jordana and Jack and having like great innovative ideas to start bringing out to you know community and also thinking about how do we really maximize the conversations of just sitting and being in community with each other um is really great I would love um I think you know if we once we get there I'm always future projecting right once we get to a point of COVID being manageable that we're talking about what health really looks like and what our wellness looks like um mental health looks like um people um talking about their feelings and emotions and being able to have like not necessarily a lounge but just an open dialogue of saying this is where I'm now able to transition into as we're going through multiple different phases of our personal life as well as a professional um and when community members are having um maybe a moment where they just like I'm confused that they find another space that they can go to um and just breathe um and being able to go into um whenever their day is required of them but definitely an open chill space that they can do um like Jordana's mentioning so that's something I'm looking for to potentially just to add as a curator and the co-director that also gets me really excited about what artists are having this conversation what artists have been and are focusing on health and what that means and what that installation looks like or what that play looks like or what that collaboration with We Keep Us Safe or the volunteers is so that's that's a whole another thing that's lit up that I'm now really excited about in 2021 to really start diving into because there are artists have been working on this but they haven't been the ones that we've been focused on putting in the forefront you know and so now we're very much on focused on health and so I'm really excited to to find those people and to collaborate with them so hit me up great yeah yeah yes yeah I mean I think you know one of the things that I've been reflecting on is that I think this moment has taught us on a number of fronts that um theaters and cultural organizations um should you know should really very specifically you know um you know say what their values are and sort of be accountable to those values and live to those values and if those values include serving their community right um it means that there's a civic responsibility and if you want to be a civic institution a public institution at the service of community then um then then you have to to be intentional and and constant um and make space literal make space in your space physically um to welcome community without any sort of uh preconditions and engage with them in a conversation about what their needs are and then of course in the virtual space create space as well there and make sure that folks have access to it if you want to engage them just don't put out an invitation and expect that folks will come make sure that that that you're engaging and partner with communities that can also help and have the philosophy of meeting folks where they're at in person and online so I'm looking forward to you know in a non-covid space also making space within our space intentionally uh for community to use that space for their expression and their growth and their learning yeah I yes I'm looking forward to all of the things mentioned already I think specifically for the partnership that we're about to start I'm very excited um about the potential of keep fostering that sense of belonging for our students which is so important for you know our immigrant community um that's that's I guess what I meant also before when I was saying about that uh joke that we made now with the students like we're gonna like uptown travels downtown it's just um that sense that you know Yurka Theta Workshop represents it's very known it's very well known in the theater community here and that sense of belonging like our kids knowing that you know I belong there too it's not that distant place that I never go to because it's not for me and I don't see plays that sound and look like me I think I'm very interested in like keep redefining what access means what equity means and what um that sense of belonging can mean for our young artists a lot of them come to the academy because they truly want to do that as their career and I know just for myself like from my background being an immigrant in this country I know that I you know I can't I can't go into equity because I they don't allow if you don't have a green card for example it's not for if you're not a citizen so that's something already that we discuss this kind of things with our students we're having these conversations from now even though they're still in middle school and high school we know that the way systems have been functioning they're not actually welcoming for a lot of folks so for me this is a beginning this is like a start of that keep the work of keep deepening that sense of belonging that I belong here of course with the respect of knowing how much space we occupy and how much space we share and how much space we you know take take more space when we have to and like take a step back when we also have to but um yeah belonging is what I'm really excited about I guess this might be jumping the gun but what excites me about is thinking about in the next several years especially the academy for those who don't know what drew me personally to ptp is that in the academy it's it's social justice oriented and it creates a space in which students are wrestling with complicated nuance issues of of immigration sex and gender racism anti-blackness and and it's such something that sam had said earlier was like the creating space for healing for cooperation to then push on to do work and i'm looking forward to these young people and participating and the staff participating in that cultivation of these young people realizing there are you know the the beauty and the necessary how necessary it is for artists to be civically engaged in their communities especially ptp is very much about you know serving the wash like the neighborhood washington heights and inwood for us in the east villa you know for new york the workshop lower east side the village you know alphabet city where i was born and raised and so it i'm looking for for these young people to you know like learn from us and we learn from them and collaborate and see what they do i think i might be but that's the dream like that you know when you yeah when you give the tools to young people and you create a space of nurture and giving them the possibilities to dream beyond what was like what they believe was afforded to them and they could just dream the impossible it's i'm looking forward to that beauty that that beautiful moment yeah yeah i just want to pick you back yeah go ahead and i gave in um when you're talking about like the spaces for healing i'm looking at all forms of resistance right what does that really look like when we're talking about healing because that within itself is a is is a revolutionary break great um and thinking about how are our partnerships really pushing that needle to ensure that we are consistently innovative about resisting what the social norms are resisting the conversations that everyone wants us to really have but we're not really talking about um and thinking about how to expand the way that we are right now because if if we know history it repeats itself and if we know how we always are thinking about social constructs they're always meant to be broken and so are we really giving our communities the tools is that are essential for when the next COVID breaks right are we really doing political education that's really giving our communities and ourselves a well-versed and well-rounded opportunity to continuously push that that that obvious um conversation but to push it even harder and as artists and as social um justice organizers agitators what are we really doing to make ourselves uncomfortable um so that the state or other forms of oppression are no longer able to continuously to put us in these spaces again and that you're in an artist space the uh constructs of what funding looks like what is that how are we resisting those those things right how are we breaking those chains so that when we're talking about community engagement that we're really giving it to the people to orchestrate that and to create the buildings in the spaces that are safe truly intentionally without you know an art fund saying oh you can only do three shows uh you know or you know some type of funder and saying hey you can only have four artists and I need to know who what when where and why that artist is what it is right so I think that where my hope is is that we are breaking a lot of these change and having the dialogue and conversation where our communities are also being very influential and how we do it because they're at the front line with us they're on the ground with us and they're helping us do what I know as Sankofa going back to where we were realizing what was valuable and bringing it back to our people so that we don't repeat the the the faults of our history so that's one thing as well. I love that Sam because our community members are the stakeholders they like our future is truly based on what they want and what they need and so yeah just second anything. Yeah the people should have the means of production right you know Augusto Boal my mentor would say would say theater is a weapon and is the people who should wield it for their own liberation so I mean it's a it's a long task but it should be an intentional task. I think we're two minutes. Well thank you all for being here today that was very inspiring. Thank you for the conversation thank you for the conversation and we wish you luck with everything be safe and healthy. Sam. Hi I'm here I was like I was like oh you still use those two minutes please I'm waiting for this conversation. Thank you all truly truly truly thank you all so much for just I'm I'm so grateful to have witnessed this. You mentioned Midway through the conversation you were talking about Zoom fatigue and I think it's I hope you all feel really energized by this conversation I think it's conversations like these and days like today and this festival that really energized me I truly I'm so grateful and I know I think the thing that I missed the most about live like the liveness of theater and being in space and just like being able to gather is that mutual energy share and me being able to like like for you to even though I was off screen let me tell you I am living okay I've been snapping screaming texting the producers we're all having our own conversation about your conversation learning from each other it's truly truly so wonderful and I know everybody at home is celebrating you so I hope that you leave this space feeling energized feeling celebrated and with lots more questions I'm just so excited to leave this space thinking more deeply about what it means to be in partnership. I appreciate calling Sankofa into the space Sam that's something that deeply resonates with me too so yes thank you all truly for joining us today and I think that's that on that so we'll close out this space I hope you all will join us for the rest of the festival for everybody watching out there I hope you'll join us for the rest of the festival we have two more performances tonight one at 8 p.m. so you have a half an hour break it's Baldwin and Buckley at Cambridge in partnership with the elevator repair service and then May and Theo is having a meditation space at 10 p.m. with I hear a guest so I hope you'll join us I hope everybody at home will join us I'm excited for it and we have so many more days I'm so excited thank you thank you